1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing controller, a printing controlling method and a recording medium storing a program for printing control. More particularly, the invention relates to a system comprising an information processor such as a personal computer, and an output unit such as a printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the area of printing system technology, techniques are available for department management. There are broadly two functions. One relates to techniques regarding authentication processing which limits a user to use of a specific printer or identifies the location of the user by means of a given department ID (or a host ID, or a user ID). The other category covers techniques of recording the state of utilization of printing devices and facilities (for example, the number of sheets of paper used) for each location to which the department IDs correspond, and summing up the results, thereby calculating accounting data for each location. Particularly, the former authentication processing is achieved by carrying out communications with the printer main body by use of a two-way communication function of a separately provided utility.
However, the authentication processing is performed only in a system configuration in which the utility permits two-way communication. A problem lies in that, in a system configuration not ensuring two-way communication, an authentication processing is not available.
When department management is conducted on the printer side, printing is limited unless the authentication is allowed. As a result, circumstances preventing printing may be encountered. In such a system, therefore, the department managing function, including the numerical processing function, a separate function, is not available at all.
Also, it is difficult to continue improving the utility so as to ensure the above-mentioned operation for all of diverse and various system configurations, which are improved from time to time. It has therefore been very difficult to completely avoid the discussed inconveniences.